The Movies

[Mark E. Hurling]

Watched The Exorcist last night. Best horror movie of all time. Nothing else is even close.

My money has always been on the 1960's B&W version of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, AKA The Haunting. No blood, no gore, no vomit. But lots of quiet, menacing scary.

[MattWI]

I saw The Haunting by dumb luck one Saturday morning on TCM. I remember the unique cinematography really caught my attention.

Both The Exorcist and The Haunting are on Scorsese's top list of scariest movies (pretty sure he nuances scary from horror). I have to admit to not having seen about half this list.

Scorsese's Scariest Movies:
The Exorcist - 1973
The Haunting - 1963
The Isle of The Dead - 1945
The Uninvited - 1944
The Entity - 1982
Dead of Night - 1945
The Changeling - 1980
The Shining - 1980
Night of the Demon - 1957
The Innocents - 1961
Psycho - 1960

[Mark Rippetoe]

Perhaps I'm odd, but I don't think The Shining is either a horror movie or even a scary movie.

[I, Claudius]

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) ... starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Scorsese's Scariest Movies:

I'm surprised he left out The Cat People.

[nykid]

Watched The Exorcist last night. Best horror movie of all time. Nothing else is even close.

I agree. I also like Rosemary's Baby, as far as the best horror movies go.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'm surprised he left out The Cat People.

Cat People should be on the list, but I think it's Top 20.

[Giri Kotte]

Perhaps I'm odd, but I don't think The Shining is either a horror movie or even a scary movie.

“I think I’m a more intimate and personal filmmaker than Kubrick ever was,” Cronenberg says.

“That’s why I find The Shining not to be a great film. I don’t think he understood the (horror) genre. I don’t think he understood what he was doing. There were some striking images in the book and he got that, but I don’t think he really felt it.

“In a weird way, although he’s revered as a high-level cinematic artist, I think he was much more commercial-minded and was looking for stuff that would click and that he could get financed. I think he was very obsessed with that, to an extent that I’m not. Or that Bergman or Fellini were.”

I agree. I also like Rosemary's Baby, as far as the best horror movies go.

Definitely one of the best psychological horror movies.

He directed and acted in an overlooked movie titled Frailty.

Frailty is one movie that's criminally under-rated or at least doesn't get mentioned as much as it deserves to be

[Mark Rippetoe]

Watched The Exorcist last night. Best horror movie of all time. Nothing else is even close.

Really, watch it again, then watch it with Friedkin's commentary. In his mind he was making a documentary.

[ud2o]

Really, watch it again, then watch it with Friedkin's commentary. In his mind he was making a documentary.

Rip, you ever go to DC? The Exorcist house is on M street in Georgetown, you can walk right up to it. It's kind of freaky, actually.

The stairs Damian falls down are about 30 yards from the window, across the yard. But they are real and appear to this day as they did in the movie.

I agree, The Exorcist is the best in its genre. Easily.